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XChateau Wine PodcastAuthor: Robert Vernick, Peter Yeung
A podcast delivering wine perspectives ex-chateau. Insights, analysis, and perspectives on news and trends in the wine industry beyond winemaking, such as marketing, finance, and consumer trends. From noted wine blogger Robert Vernick (@wineterroir) and leading wine business consultant and author of Luxury Wine Marketing Peter Yeung (@winebizguy), this podcast navigates the business of wine with unique perspectives and insights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Language: en Genres: Arts, Business, Food, Marketing Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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US Wholesale Masterclass w/ Pete Przybylinski, The Duckhorn Portfolio (Part 1)
Episode 207
Wednesday, 10 December, 2025
Having helped grow Duckhorn from $5M to $500M in revenue and the sales team from 1 to >100 people, Pete Przbylinksi, former Chief Sales Officer of The Duckhorn Portfolio for nearly 30 years, has a deep understanding of managing US wholesale markets. In this two-part episode, Pete dives into every aspect of managing a wholesale sales team, including incentive structures and collaborating with distributors.Detailed Show Notes: Duckhorn went from 50k cases / ~$5M in revenue / 14-15 employees (1995) to ~$500M revenue (2024)The Duckhorn PortfolioDuck themed: Duckhorn Vineyards (1978), Decoy (2nd label originally), Paraduxx (1994), Goldeneye, Migration, CanvasbackAcquisitions: Calera (2017), Kosta Browne (2018), Sonoma Cutrer (2024)Keys to Duckhorn’s successBrand equity - focused on Merlot, which was hot in 1980s-1990s and catapulted wineryKey assets - #1 people, #2 brand equityThe French Paradox (1991) created big demand for red wineTable stakes are good scores, showing up in the market, hosting guestsSales team grew from 1 person to >100 (~85 in the field)No perfect way to calculate ROI for sales people1st method: too many cases & distributors to manage, needed more people2nd method: quantified expected incremental sales from more people (data was full of holes)Final method: managed to target of 8-10% sales opex / revenue, because a KPI for SLT and BoardSales team rolesRegional Managers, over a series of states (50-60% of time working w/ distributors, the rest out in the market or internal analysis and reporting)District Managers, geographically concentrated, go into accounts you want to be inNational Accounts, on and off-premise; a challenge to determine which accounts are national vs regional, ended up doing it case by case and assigning accountsDistributor consolidation led to wineries needed to do the work they cannot doE.g. - identifying underrepresented accounts and coming up with action plan by regionIdentifying top salespeopleLook at overall contribution margin for the regionShare of business in market (using IRI, distributor reports, account base)Gross Profit%, identifies amount of trade spend usedHow responsive they are, their handle on the market, their decision making#1 method: do they bring new ideas to the tableIncentivizing salespeopleBonuses must be meaningful (25-35% is meaningful), higher for higher levelsLook at contribution margin relative to budgetUsed a curve (<90% budget - no bonus, above budget - scale increased, which helps end of year motivation)District Managers may have market specific goals (e.g. - increasing depletions, PODs for particular products) that are short term (3-6 months)Overall, incentives are difficult to manage, data can lag; make it objectiveRecognition is helpful, e.g. - unexpected gifts like a signed 3L from the CEODistributor collaboration best practicesShow them a plan and explain why it makes sense (e.g. - buyers are lined up) and get mutual agreementKeep it simple, the info needs to be passed on to othersIdentify what you’re prepared to do in the marketplace (e.g. - market visits, funding BTG programs, incentives, etc…)Do monthly check-ins and more formal quarterly reviews to see progress against plan and to adjust tactics and strategiesOptimal size of sales territoriesDepends on # of distributors in region (e.g. - TN had 8 distributors = 8 days/mo of meetings)Try to align with target sales opex / revenue ratios (~8-12%) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
